National Sports

Brewers finish off World Series with 4-1 win Wednesday

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The small-ball Milwaukee Brewers playing in the smallest market in the majors are World Series champions for the first time.

Hey, Milwaukee: grab a brat, raise a beer and prepare for that parade.

To borrow a line from Bob Uecker, your title drought is up, outta here, gone.

Young ace Jacob Misiorowski threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings, rookie Cooper Pratt had two more hits and two RBIs, and Milwaukee beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to set off a long-awaited celebration among thousands of Brewers fans in attendance at Tropicana Field.

“It’s the best feeling ever. All of our fans are here. I know the city’s waited a long, long time for this,” said captain Christian Yelich, who got hugs from franchise icon Robin Yount on the field when it was over. “We’re so happy to bring it home to them.”

World Series MVP William Contreras hit an RBI double and Misiorowski allowed just two hits before leaving the game because of a right calf cramp. He got a standing ovation from the Brew-Crew fans, who took over the section behind Milwaukee’s dugout for the last three games.

They filled the entire infield section of the ballpark for the trophy presentation and were still chanting “Let’s go Brewers!” almost two hours after the final pitch.

The 22-year-old Pratt set a Series rookie record with six straight hits before his sacrifice fly in the sixth. Jackson Chourio set a five-game Series record with 11 hits.

“This is one of the greatest moments of my life. Oh my gosh. It doesn’t even feel real,” said Pratt, who made his major league debut in June. “This is surreal. It only took four months!”

The championship comes in the 58th season for a franchise that began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and moved to Milwaukee the following year. The Brewers’ only previous trip to the World Series in 1982 ended in heartbreak when they blew a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning of Game 7 and lost 6-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals.

But this team displayed the toughness and resilience of 67-year-old manager Pat Murphy, who survived a heart attack in 2020 and was the NL Manager of the Year in his first two full seasons at the helm in 2024 and 2025.

“This group of guys right here, the 2026 team, will be remembered forever -- and they deserve that because they were a team,” Murphy said. “They’re not worried about their own stats. No one cares about that. They care about coming together and winning tonight.”

With their flame-throwing, 24-year-old two-time All-Star on the mound, the Brewers rebounded from a heartbreaking, 4-3 extra-inning loss in Game 4 when they were three outs from a sweep in the 12th before a stellar bullpen finally faltered.

Pitching on four days’ rest for only the fifth time in 34 starts this year, The Miz had his longest outing since throwing 6 1/3 innings against the Cubs on Sept. 8. Leg cramps also forced him out of two outings earlier in the season.

“I don’t even have words,” Misiorowski said. “It’s amazing, just watching my guys celebrate. And the city -- I know they’re going crazy in Milwaukee. It’s awesome.”

Misiorowski, who broke the World Series velocity record with a 103.5 mph fastball on the first pitch last Friday, opened with 12 straight four-seamers between 100.9-103 mph. He topped out at 103 twice among his 86 pitches, 58 strikes.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander didn’t record a strikeout in the first three innings for the first time in his two-year career and finished with two, matching his career low. But he was fired up after Yandy Díaz missed a cutter to end the fifth: The Miz pumped his fist twice and punched the air walking off the mound.